The faction backing acting Senate President Win Gatchalian believes its hold on the chamber will be locked in the moment it picks up one more member, Sen. Bam Aquino said Tuesday, framing a 13th vote as the development that would finally close the dispute over who legitimately leads the Senate.
Speaking on ANC’s Headstart, Aquino said the recruitment of another senator could come quickly and would clear the way for a formal election. “Well, unang-una, kapag 13 na kami, which we’re predicting will be very soon, at nag-special session, mafo-formalize na ‘yung pag-elect ng bagong Senate President,” he said.
The arithmetic matters because the Constitution requires 13 votes to elect a Senate President, a threshold the Gatchalian camp has not yet met. When the group convened on June 3, it counted only 12 senators present — enough to declare a quorum and vote leadership posts vacant, but short of the number needed to seat a permanent chamber head. Gatchalian was instead installed as Senate President Pro Tempore and designated acting Senate President.
Aquino acknowledged that the gap leaves room for legal challenge, including a possible petition to the Supreme Court, but said his side is on solid footing. “We stand on good legal ground,” he said, adding that the bloc’s reading rests on jurisprudence and precedent. Even so, he conceded a clean majority would be preferable to a contested one: “The best situation is really kapag 13 na kami,” he said. “We know that we stand on jurisprudence and precedence… But the best is just to have the 13.”
Asked whether a defector from the rival camp led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano was the expected addition, Aquino would not name anyone but did not rule it out. “Mas exciting kung hindi alam nating lahat at doon na lang sa araw na ‘yon,” he said. His expectation tracks with separate remarks reported by Philstar, in which Sen. JV Ejercito left open the prospect that a 13th senator could swing the count, telling reporters the thin margins made any outcome possible.
Aquino traced the standoff to the days after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s arrest, when, by his account, the then-majority skipped sessions on June 1 and June 2. “Tatlong araw kaming hindi nag-session. June 1, we were there. Hinihintay namin sila… Hindi sila sumipot,” he said. He argued the absences pushed the chamber toward a constitutional problem, and that Sen. Chiz Escudero’s decision to show up on June 3 — Escudero had been aligned with Cayetano’s group — gave the Gatchalian side the quorum it needed to act.
Throughout, Aquino insisted his bloc carries the recognition of the other branches. “Right now, ang kinikilala ng Executive, ng House, ng iba pang mga legal luminaries, ‘yung Gatchalian bloc,” he said. He cast the group’s priority as keeping the institution running rather than litigating its standing. “We are committed to continuing doing the work of the Senate. Tutuloy namin ‘yung trabaho ng Senado,” he said, returning to the point that a 13-member majority would let lawmakers shift their attention back to legislation. “Mag-13 na po tayo, hopefully. We’re praying for that and we’re hoping for that. At pag nangyari na ‘yan, we can go back, back to business tayo and really focus on the reforms na kailangan ng tao,” he said.
